Improvement in combined lead-pencils and rubber erasers



l. ILLFELDER.

Combined Lead-Pencils and Rubber-Erasers.

No, 144,337, Patented Nov.4,l873.

Wa d waxes. 1720:2225).

UNITED 'rA'rns JOSEPH ILLFELDEB, OF NEW? YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN COMBINED LEAD=PENCILS AND RUBBER ERASERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 144,337, dated November 4, 1873; application filed August 26, 1873.

To all whom it. mag concern:

Be it known that I, J osnrn ILLFELDER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Lead-Pencils and Rubber Erasers, of which the following is a specification My invention is applicable to what are known as conical pencils, or pencils which are largest at the head or upper end, and thence taper gradually toward the end which is designed to be cut away to expose the lead. I

I combine with a pencil of this kind a rubber eraser, attached to the head of the pencil, and a conical sleeve, of paper, metal, or other suitable stiff material, which can slide on the pencil, and when pushed up toward the enlarged head, so as to surround and support the eraser, will be jammed or clamped onto this part of the pencil-handle, and will thus be firmly held in place.

If the conical sleeve be made of paper or other material that can be cut with a knife, it may be cut away to expose fresh portions of the rubber eraser. If, however, the conical sleeve is metallic, or a substance that cannot well be out, then it requires to be moved bodily down whenever a fresh surface of rubber is needed, and, consequently, it should be split longitudinally and made of spring-like material, so that it may expand or contract on the pencil-handle, according to the varying .size of such handle, while at the same time it will at all times, so long as it surrounds the eraser, clasp the pencil tightly, and so maintain its position while supporting the eraser.

The manner in which my invention is or may be carried into eifect will be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which-- Figures Land 2 are, respectively, a side elevation and a longitudinal central section of a combined pencil and eraser, provided with a conical supporting-sleeve, of paper or other material that can be cut with a knife, and constructed and arranged-in accordance with my invention. Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, a side elevation and a longitudinal central section of a combined lead-pencil and eraser, provided with a conical metallic supporting-sleeve.

Each pencil-handle A is conical or tapering, as shown. To the head of the pencil is attached a rubber eraser, B, of cylindrical or other suitable form. The eraser can be attached in any of the ways ordinarily used. In the present instance, it flts and is glued on a tenon on the end of the pencil.

The supporting-sleeve O, in Figs. 1 and 2, is made of paper or other material that may be cut with a knife, and is slightly conical or tapering, its smaller end having a diameter less than that of the enlarged pencil-head, so that the sleeve, when pushed up on the pencil, will, by the time it reaches the end, be tightly jammed thereon. A sufficient portion of the sleeve envelops and surrounds the eraser to constitute a lateral support for the latter. This sleeve can, if desired, be cut away whenever it is necessary to expose fresh portions of the rubber eraser.

The sleeve D, in Figs. 3 and 4, is, so far as its conical formation is concerned, the same as the sleeve in Figs. 1 and 2, and fits on the conical pencil in the same way; but the ma terial of which this sleeve is made is metal or its equivalent, and as this cannot be cut for the purposes above stated, it becomes necessary to slide the sleeve bodily on the pencil whenever a fresh part of the eraser is to be exposed.

To this end the sleeve is made of spring metal, vulcanite, or equivalent material, and is split longitudinally, as shown, so that it will expand and contract to fit the various portions of the upper end of the pencil which it may encircle, and at the same time clasp tightly, at all times, the pencil, when it is pushed up far enough to encircle the eraser.

Havin described in T invention, and the manner'in which the same is or may be carried into effect, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of a conical lead-pencil, a rubber eraser attached to the head of said pencil, and a conical supporting-sleeve, loose on the pencil and removable therefrom, but held in position when pushed up to encircle and surround the rubber eraser, by being wedged or jammed onto the enlarged part of the pencil, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH ILLFELDER.

Witnesses JOHN BULKLEY, J. WHITNEY AUSTIN. 

